Cullerlie 2020

Joe Aitken is one of the great upholders of North-East bothy ballads, who has taken his tradition to audiences all over Scotland, England, Ireland and Germany. The winner of many singing competitions, he is currently the Champion of Champions, having won the title for a record seven time at Elgin. Joe picked up his songs from some of the great tradtional singers, including Jimmy McBeath, Jock Duncan, Belle Stewart and Tom Reid. In 2018 he was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame.

Rachel Carstairs from Keith is currently studying Traditional Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she is in her third year. She is a passionate advocate for Scots song and continues to explore its rich repertoire. Rachel is described as 'one of Scotland's most exciting young traditional singers' by Aberdeen Folk Club. Her tutors include Wendy Weatherby, Fiona Hunter and Rod Patterson.

Nick Dow is considered one of the best folk voices of his generation and has been singing and collecting traditional songs for over forty years. His repertoire contains many items that you will hear nowhere else, including songs gleaned from the West Country and from the Travelling People, with whom he has lived and worked. He is trained in the dying art of Gypsy Wagon Painting and will be leading a workshop on Saturday and Sunday mornings

Sarah Jane Gibbon hails from Orkney. Taught to sing by her mother, over the years she has performed with her mother and sister, as a solo artist, in the Song Shop Trio, various choirs and most recently with her sister. She co-led the Big Orkney Song Project collecting, investigating, reviving and teaching Orkney Songs in the local community. A tradition bearer and singer songwriter, her compositions are rooted in the landscapes, seascapes and heritage of Orkney.

Photo: Sean Purser

Kirsty Hannah is a singer from Grimsby in Lincolnshire, who has spent time conducting her own research into the history of folk song collecting in the country. Many of the songs now feature in her repertoire and she loves to tell stories of the Lincolnshire singers wherever she goes. A resident singer at Grimsby Folk Club, she has performed at various local festivals and at Whitby.

Áine Larkin  grew up in County Mayo, with parents who love to sing. Singing traditional ballads with her three younger sisters was a regular habit from childhood. In her teens, Áine sang with a folk group called Saoirse, and discovered sean nós, singing in the Aran Islands. Paddy Berry was another strong influence later when her family moved to Wexford. From 2011 until the birth of her son three years ago, she was a regular at Aberdeen Folk Club.

Thomas McCarthy was born in Birr, County Offaly, into a well-respected Irish Traveller family. He learnt his craft of singing from his mother, aunts and uncles. He was 'discovered' in 2008 after a tip-off from a barman at a family wedding, which led him to Cecil Sharp House in London. He has sung at clubs and festivals throughout the UK and Ireland as well as in Europe and the USA. He has recorded three CDs and is the Traditional Singer of the Year in the Gradam Ceoil Awards of 2019.

Sean Mone is from Keady, a small town in County Armagh close to the border.

He has a fine traditional repertoire though is best known as a singer of self-composed ballads, mostly witty and casting a cold eye on subjects such as politics, smuggling, constitutional matters, and love or the lack of it.

His songs have been recorded by many singers and compositions such as @Lovers and Friends', 'Rosilita and Jack Campbell', and 'Trimble's Pimple' are often rendered where singers gather.

Tony Robertson lives in Aberdeen and is the second son of the late great storyteller and balladeer, Stanley Robertson. He grew up immersed in the culture of his Traveller ancestors. His great aunt Jeannie Robertson MBE was an inspiration to him and her daughter, Lizzie Higgins, taught him many songs when he was young. Tony loves telling the old stories – the Jack tales, the creepy tales, family history and family legends. He is proud to be a keeper of the lore.

Tom Spiers has been involved in traditional folk song since the early 1960s. He was a founder member of the Gaugers, who specialised in music from NE Scotland and made several influential recordings in the 1970s and 80s. At various times he was also a member of Stramash and Shepheard Spiers & Watson. In 2013, the Gaugers were inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame. Tom now sings with his wife Maggie and daughter Emma as the Spiers Family.

Tripple – Cait, Annie and Jill (sisters and mum) – have a love of the traditional songs of Scotland and enjoy arranging them in a contemporary way. Coupling interesting harmonies with finely tuned dynamics, they bring old songs and their stories to life. Annie, a former student at the NCETM in Plockton, has tutored at the Huntly Summer Music School and Fèis Fhiort. Cait runs youth bands and singing groups with SWAMP in Pollock and is the singer/songwriter in Glasgow indie band, Peplo. Tripple have performed at festivals across Scotland, Europe, USA and Canada.

Friday

7.30-11.30

Welcome

‘Come-All-Ye’ – weekenders & guests

Saturday

10.00-11.30

Workshop A1

'‘Gansey Knitting’, Di Gilpin & Sheila Greenwell

Workshop A2

‘Gypsy Caravan Painting’, Nick Dow

Workshop B

‘My Family and Songs ’, Thomas McCarthy

Workshop C 

‘Farmhouse Cooking’, Shirley Foulkes

Workshop D 

‘Building a Traveller’s Bow Tent’, Davie Donaldson

11.45-12.45

      The Cullerlie Hour – Marquee

with Tom Spiers, 'Peter Hall – Singer, Musician, Collector'

1.00-2.30

Lunchtime

2.30-5.00

Singaround A

Sarah Jane Gibbon

Singaround B

Áine Larkin

Singaround C

Joe Aitken

5.00-7.30

Long Tea Break

7.30-11.00

Grand Concert

In the Marquee
All Guests – hosted by Ian Russell and Scott Gardiner

Sunday

10.00-11.30

Workshop A1

‘Gansey Knitting’, Di Gilpin & Sheila Greenwell

Workshop A2

‘Gypsy Caravan Painting’, Nick Dow

Workshop B

‘Comical Songs Are No Joke’, Sean Mone

Workshop D

‘Storytelling in the Bow Tent’, Tony Robertson

11.45-1.30

Lunchtime Singarounds

A

Tripple

B

Kirsty Hannah and Rachel Carstairs

C

Informal music

2.00-5.00

Farewell Concert

In the Marquee. All Guests – hosted by Ian Russell and Scott Gardiner

A

= Marquee

B

= Bothy/Wash Hoose

C

= Tea Room or Outside